Zantis

Don’t make it much of a habit of destroying Zantis’, since they are not worth any points. Do it just to pretty much keep yourself safe.

Be alert at all times, as it doesn’t take long for the action to start moving pretty fast. You especially have to be alert when you lose a ship, as the action doesn’t stop and you can lose one right after the other if you’re not careful. You should also be on the alert as to when a Zantis drops down after you have destroyed a cell it was emerging from, as, again, it doesn’t take long before they start quickly plummeting down the screen.

Keep in mind your firing range is limited, as you’ll probably be spending a bit of time at the tallest height your ship can manage in order to fire at (and destroy) the cells at the top of the screen. Wasting a shot means you’ll have to try again, which, in the meantime, keeps your ship in danger of possibly being destroyed by a Zantis.

At the very beginning of a wave, with just the right shot placement, you should be able to take out a cell before the Zantis’ start attacking.

Be patient if a Zantis keeps on emerging from a cell over and over again, making it either difficult to get a shot in at destroying its cell or you keep on shooting the Zantis' by accident, not allowing you to destroy the cell you were aiming for. The Zantis' will eventually come out of another cell, and rushing the situation could spell disaster.

Take out all cells on one side first before going after cells on the other side of the screen (i. e. take out all cells on the right, then work left, or vice versa).

And in conjunction with the above, with all cells on one side clear, there is a safe spot at the furthest top corners of the screen (i. e. as high as you can move your ship up and the furthest top corner away from the center on the right side) if you need a break, as the game has no dedicated pause button. No Zantis’ will be able to touch you at these high, furthest away corners from the center of the screen (see photo at right).

Make sure to leave the cell closest to the central core last before destroying it at the end of a wave, as the Zantis leader is going to appear right afterwards, so you’re going to want to be as close to the central core as possible in order to try to destroy the leader, which can be worth a decent amount of points.

Be prepared for when the Zantis leader is going to appear so you can be ready to deal with it as soon as possible. Try not to have a Zantis onscreen when the leader is to appear, the better to have less to deal with, and the better to increase your chance of success in shooting the leader. You’re also going to have to remember, then make quick decisions as to which one you’re dealing with, since, if you’re about to face the first leader, you need to get to the bottom and shoot straight up the center as fast as you can. With the second leader, they move in a jiggly fashion, so firing straight up the center doesn’t always work; be ready to fire a little off center – either left or right – depending on which way they’re going. And for the third leader, be prepared to rapidly shoot several times to be rid of the bodyguard Zantis’ that are protecting it.